


twice-shared

by orphan_account



Series: along the invisible curve [9]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-03
Updated: 2010-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-12 09:45:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>9th in "along the invisible curve". extra cookie, a glimpse into the life after successfully concluded bachelorhood. I present: the kids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	twice-shared

The store was not quite as packed as it could have been, which was a relief in itself. They'd had a bunch of trouble keeping the girls in close proximity in the shoe shop already. Stéphane was not happy with how things were going now.

It had been a lot easier a few months ago, to buy things for them: he'd mostly gone by himself after rehearsals, quickly picking up whatever was most needed for the next weeks, no discussion, no protests. He'd made it a habit to get the pure necessities. Johnny tended to come home with designer clothes; Stéphane liked his picks, of course he did, and he tried to be supportive especially of the clothes he'd designed and sewn himself. But there was such a thing as too much, which Johnny still didn't understand, and the bank account showed him every week anew that they did not have the money for the things Johnny wanted for their girls, the jeans or shirts or whatever else took his fancy.

It would have been nice to be able to afford them, but theater had not made anyone rich yet, and Johnny's work - well, he was good, brilliant even, but he was still in the process of making a name for himself. It wasn't quite as easy as many people wanted to believe, that climb to the top, even with a very good college degree and a ton of connections.

And now, Jacey was heading towards the back section of the shop, trying to look innocent and inconspicuous while Aliya attempted to crawl underneath some of the clothes racks to get to the other things hidden behind them. There were of course no other things hidden behind them, but she was not tall enough yet to see that. A quick look around showed him that Johnny had vanished somewhere between lines of clothes.

Jacey first, he decided. "Sweetheart," he called after her. For a second, he thought she'd ignore him, but then her shoulders straightened and she turned on her heel, giving him a bored look. "C'mon. We had a deal, remember? First we get you some clothes, and then we'll get you the pads?"

"Okay," she sighed as if she was humoring _him_.

Stéphane grinned. "Good girl. Now, let's find your sister." She came running and took his hand, though reluctantly.

They found Aliya standing before a pink princess dress with puffy sleeves in the section with the ladies' evening gowns. She'd smartly deduced that none of the grown-up ball dresses would fit her and found something her own size. It hurt his eyes, but it made him laugh as well, because this was not the first time this had happened. "Not today, I'm afraid," he told her.

"You always say that!" Aliya complained. "Dad -"

"We'll get you a lovely top instead, how about that? I'll even make sure it's pink."

"With a unicorn?" she checked, suspicious.

"No unicorns this time," he promised, lips twitching.

She gave a long-suffering sigh that reminded Stéphane of Johnny whenever he thought Stéphane was being overbearing or unnecessarily restrictive. It was uncanny. But they did discover a lovely top for her in exactly the color she'd wanted, with puffy sleeves even, which she got to hold while he tried to find something less dramatic for Jacey. "How about this one?" he asked, holding another one up.

Jacey grimaced. "It's red."

"I thought you liked red?"

"Never liked red. Can't I have the black one? Will's mom bought him a black shirt he was wearing to practice last week. With a - a - buttons." She pointed at her chest. "Can't I have buttons?"

"No way," Stéphane grinned. "I'm not getting up ten minutes earlier to button your shirt at seven in the morning just to get you to kindergarden in time." He picked a black one, though, because he knew that she would not let herself get talked into anything else today. It had a few green and brown stripes, so it would do. "This one?"

She nodded. "Fine."

"Great. Two more and we're done here."

Two more proved to be easier, now that he knew what they wanted. Aliya even picked one out herself which he agreed upon, and Jacey nodded gravely as he got her another black-and-red one. Apparently red was fine if there was black. He'd have to remember that. Then Johnny found them. Stéphane saw him when he was still a few feet away and it was enough to make him wince. He quickly told the girls to run towards the jeans, which were a few racks away, while he shielded Johnny from view.

"What are you doing?" he asked once the kids were out of earshot, gently attempting to take the load of clothes out of his arms.

"I'm just giving them something to pick from," Johnny protested and held on. "What - is _that_?"

"Normal girl shirts," Stéphane bit out. "Johnny, you cannot be serious, these are all way too expensive! The girls will have grown out of them in a month, and frankly, we couldn't afford them even if they were to wear them for a year."

"They're fine," Johnny said icily. "I'll pay for them."

"You can't keep doing this! You always buy them things like these, but they don't even care. They're fine with clothes that don't have special brands, and I'd love to buy them the best, you know I do, but this is not okay."

"Why not?"

Stéphane narrowed his eyes. "You bring them lots of it, and they think they get to keep it all until I have to be the bad guy and tell them it's not possible and have to take it all away. How is it fair to make me the one who's no fun?"

"It's just a game, they know it is. Just let them try them on for a while, then -"

"Dad." Someone grabbed Stéphane's sleeve.

Stéphane clenched his teeth and breathed out slowly. He was perfectly calm again when he faced Jacey. "Yes?"

"Can we go look at the shin pads now? I didn't..." Her voice fizzled out. Her eyes were fixed on the mountain of clothes in Johnny's arms; her face fell. "I have a shirt," she said quickly. "Two even. I don't need those."

"One more," Johnny said mildly. "And some nice pants -"

"- can't you just pick one while I go get my pads? I don't want to be here anymore."

"I picked some," Johnny said, holding them out. "You can try them on and -"

"But I don't want to. I don't like any of those anyway. They're all wrong!"

"You'll love them once you're wearing them, you'll see," Johnny assured her.

"Yes!" Aliya cheered, coming up behind Jacey, pushing through the racks, carrying three pairs of jeans. "Daddy, can I have more than two?" She reached out her arms towards him even though she saw he couldn't lift her. "Please?"

Stéphane glared. "Two shirts each, one pair of jeans or pants if you want some of those, that's what you need. Jacey, if you want I'll pick your jeans, it'll take a second, and then we can go into the sports section."

"Stéphane, I think Jacey should -" Stéphane stepped towards Johnny, who stopped in mid-sentence because Stéphane was leaning over his shoulder, putting his mouth to Johnny's ear.

"She does not want to play dress up," he whispered sharply. "Stop acting like a pouty child who doesn't get to play with his dolls. She's a little girl, she made her choice. If you make her cry again, I won't be responsible for my actions."

Johnny jerked back, eyes narrowed. Aliya had grabbed Jacey's hand, sensing the tension, and leaned into her sister. Stéphane stepped back, taking the load of clothes into his arms from Johnny's. "I'll go put those back."

This time, Johnny let him, but his gaze spoke volumes. It slid over Jacey as if she was invisible and he held out his hand towards Aliya. "Come on," he offered. "We'll see about those jeans of yours, try a few on, how does that sound?"

"Can I have a skirt, too?" she asked, bouncing, grabbing his hand. She beamed and they turned to go, her pigtails swinging with every step.

"We'll see," Johnny replied, smiling, and turned to Stéphane once more, smile gone. "We'll meet in half an hour at the check-out."

Stéphane nodded. A few seconds later, his shoulders slumped and he rubbed his forehead, feeling exhausted. He hadn't wanted to show Johnny how hard this was being for him, but he couldn't quite hold it in anymore. "Shit." Then he winced at himself, because Jacey was still standing right next to him. "Sorry. Don't repeat that."

Jacey didn't answer. She wasn't even looking at him, staring at her shoes. Her lower lip was trembling, cheeks heated and crimson. When she realized he was watching, she bit on it to make the tremble stop.

Stéphane closed his eyes for a second, then crouched down beside her and touched her cheek. "Hey."

"I don't mind," she said bravely. "Can we go?"

"Jace -"

"I really want to go."

Stéphane nodded. "All right. We'll see if we can do something about getting you some elbow pads as well, how's that?"

She snorted, half grinning. "It's soccer, dad, I don't need elbow pads!"

"They're always bruised when you come home from practice," he pointed out and rose to his feet again.

"It doesn't even hurt. But shin pads are compu- pulsy."

"Compulsory," Stéphane corrected. "No elbow pads, then. How about gloves?"

"Dad!" She poked his leg.

"He'll get over it, you know that, right? He's just a little disappointed that you're growing up so fast."

Jacey gave him a wide smile. "School's in two months." She rubbed her tummy like the thought gave her a strange feeling inside.

"I'm glad it'll be two of you, Aliya and you," Stéphane told her in confidence. "You'll keep each other out of trouble."

"I'll protect her," Jacey pumped her fist.

"From whom?" Stéphane laughed.

"The boys!"

"Ah. She'll need protection from them for sure."

She babbled more about school, and Stéphane watched her, smiling. Johnny - well. It wasn't the first time. She got over it more quickly the more it happened, and looked, acted fine afterwards, but still; something about her reaction made him worry. And he had no idea how to fix this. Maybe it was fixing itself, but - he had a strange feeling there was something afoot.

~~~


End file.
